Hi Everyone,

Today we have put out a long overdue patch. Some bug fixes here, some new additions there.

You may have noticed our launch on Xbox recently, with that we went through a whole new round of QA which found a ton of very obscure bugs which were patched. With this, Unity was also updated to a new version (from 2019 to 2021). This caused an issue for the PC build which was released last week on Gamepass, which todays patch (simultaneous to the one released on gamepass) has addressed. These were in relation to the refresh rate fixes, mouse scroll wheel input and some other little things. While I try to fix everything that gets reported some issues I can't replicate due to the unique nature of how PC work. But I am always trying my best to make sure everyone can play. If you have any issues which have popped up since this patch or have incompatibility please let me know so I can fix it for you.

The main addition to this patch is 3 new languages added
- French
- Korean
- Italian

For PC, my next focus will be making the custom levels compatible with Steam Workshop as well as making it so you can edit a text file to configure the game to your machines specific stuff.

Umurangi Generation has come a long way since its initial release. Its held together with duct tape and love.

Ves

HI,

We've updated the game to fix the following 2 minor bugs. We've been working on a port of the game and found the root cause of some issues on PC.

It seems a certain glitch occurred where the red tracers on Contact were calling a physics calculation while colliding into a solid object. With the new 144hz update, this would calculate more than twice per frame and the bottleneck was found. We wrote some custom code that prevents this physics calculation from occurring because it is not necessary. It seems this was a default setting based on a template we used to achieve the effect.

You should find that this level is much more performant

We got clues something was wrong when a player asked 'is the DLC free now?' they were using a public beta 'development build' of the game. For development the game temporarily unlocks everything including the DLC. Something which seems to have slipped through in the last patch is that all the levels were unlocked on a non development build as well as the option to choose which mode players would like to use. If players loaded into a creative mode or speedrun mode with no save file the game would save this mode as the default. Once the player would exit, they would be unable to access the mode selection, but the default would be locked to creative mode.

We've prevented players from being to do this bug when playing, but it is still technically possible if they delete the playerProgress.fdsave file but not the input_settings.fdsave file located next to the gallery directory. We will have a cleaner fix to this next week.

During the Protest Level the feet of the protestors use an Inverse Kinematic Setting to firmly plant them on the ground. It seems with the change to 144hz code this has resulted in 2 bugs
1) it offsets the starting position causing some of them to clip into each other
2) it causes unnecessary physics calculations per frame.
For this fix, we replaced this setting with a custom script which on the first frame of the game, the character scans the ground below them and sets the position to this. This does not require a physics calculation and therefore gives a huge performance boost.

Thank you for your patience and reporting the issues. We appreciate everyone's great feedback.

Hi Everyone! Hope you've all been snapping and sharing your shots. This update we wanted to give pc players some much requested features. Hope you enjoy. We will continue to add your feedback in the future.

We’ve added new language packs for the game and will continue to add more in the future. One of the big ones we’ve added is Te Reo Māori support. This is something that has a lot of intangible value, seeing a language which was close to extinction less than 50 years ago, come back with strength and be translated by young Māori people into a video game. We would like to thank our mates at Ngati Gaming for the translation. Much love and mana you huas 😛


We’ve added support for 21:9 Ultrawide Support. This was tricky as we had to rework some stuff with the UI as it wasn’t designed to scale with this aspect ratio.
Note: after selecting the 21:9 Ultra Wide option please restart the game. Trust me it is easier to do this.

We’ve added 144hz support for high refresh rate monitors. This should automatically detect this refresh rate and adjust accordingly. Having a high refresh rate will however cause your computer to calculate a larger amount of draw calls so this may hinder performance.

We’ve been working on console ports and a lot of these features have resulted in smaller FPS saves here and there. Obviously these improvements carry over.


Interpolated Movement is a system of movement which makes the control of the game much smoother. This required re-doing a lot of movement scripts and a lot of fundamental things with the game. Many people had stated that the current movement had made them feel sick. We hope this improvement will help players with motion sickness and overall make the game much smoother to play. Sorry speedrunners this may stop you from being able to clip through walls because it checks where your last position was. Check out this article by Scott Sewell for more information. Absolute Legend
https://www.kinematicsoup.com/news/2016/8/9/rrypp5tkubynjwxhxjzd42s3o034o8


We’ve worked to add custom level support to the game. We’ve put a sticky on the Discord which should help with players creating levels. Please note you will need to opt into the beta branch to use this feature. All levels are just side loaded through the documents folder.
Head to our discord here: https://discord.gg/FPVv964

We’ve added Steam Cloud Saving to Umurangi Generation. This is an automatic setting which will backup your *.FDSAVE files in your LocalLow folder (1 up from your Gallery Folder).

Like every patch we found some bugs here and there. A few notable ones are to do with the speedrun mode which wouldn’t reset stats between levels. We hope this helps speedrunners compete and create their own fun.

Hi Everyone Ves here,

Umurangi Generation has been updated. I would like to be transparent with the game over the last few days having a few updates pushed to everyone's machines. It has been a while since I updated the public branch because I have been working on the Nintendo Switch Build and the new modes. These modes required translation so they were something I couldn’t make live immediately. In the meantime I worked on fixing as many bugs as possible and improving the game with things like slippery movement. Unfortunately that introduced some new bugs, which hopefully should mostly be squashed. However, there is still more work to do as the game grows over time. I have set up a beta branch (password: betabranch2021) which I will update more regularly with fixes to individual bugs which come through on the discussions thread and then put out an update to the public branch with these fixes every few weeks. This is because updates are always going to be 400-600MB and constantly pushing these updates is annoying and something I am sure everyone would rather not get spammed with.


This is largely due to compression. With Unity you have the option to compress assets as an uncompressed build of the game is 3.5GB, with the assets compressed the game is 600-800MB. The reason updates are 400-600MB is most of these assets are combined into one during the compilation process, so this ends up being much much smaller in the long run but something that is annoying to constantly get updates on. Thank you for understanding.

Because of this I highly recommend you only opt-in to the beta branch if the game is currently having an issue on your machine. One of the issues which slipped through was that players with high refresh rate screens (120hz, 144hz) would have extremely slow movement and jumping. This was due to the new creative mode changing how movement works due to the ability to now slow down time. This issue is fixed now but it is something I was unable to test with my current machine. Another issue is that the game became very pixelated. Something that should be fixed now.

-AMD Processors Fix. Players with certain AMD Processors were having issues running the game.
-Less Slippery Movement. Movement is much more rigid than before. With the player sometimes slipping down stairs or off objects.
-Creative Mode Added. Express your creativity by going back to old levels and changing the time of day, fog, sun colour and more.
-Speedrun Mode Added. Run through the whole game. Note: for users who do not have the Macro DLC this will just be the base game only.
-Speedrun Mode (Single) Added. Run through a single level as fast as you can.
-Speedrun Mode (Macro Only Added). Run through the Macro DLC levels only as fast as you can. (Requires Macro DLC)
-Speedrun Mode (No Macro Added). Run through the base game levels (requires Macro DLC)
-Performance fixes. Certain levels should run better now. We made certain objects less intense by turning off settings which are not even visible. One of the benefits porting to less powerful hardware is seeing where bottle necks are and everyone getting those improvements retroactively.
-Bug fixes. We fixed a load of bugs with certain things. For example screen flicker when saving the game.
-Unity Updated from 2019.4.3 to 2020.


For the PC community I want you all to know I have not forgotten about you. There are some really cool things which I plan on adding here, things like a customisable config file and eventually some custom level support which will be exclusive. You will be able to build your own custom levels which can be side loaded into your documents folder.

Thank you once again for all your support. Things are sometimes going to be rocky and I appreciate everyone's patience.

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Umurangi Generation Macro is here. An all new gameplay expansion to Umurangi Generation. Extend your creative potential with 4 new levels and 9 new pieces of equipment to unlock. Adjust ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed manually to create refined images. Take a look at some of the new features below and be sure to share your best shots with us on Twitter at @UmurangiGame

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435580

One of the other great things we've added in for Umurangi Generation Macro is an Inventory screen at the main menu for you to check out all the great gear that you've acquired.

You can also see what equipment you haven't unlocked from the Select Level screen now

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Due to the surface being in constant chaos and uncertainty many of the worlds elite were able to secure themself comfort from the ongoing crisis above.
A new area, Tauranga Underground City has been added, which opens up the following 3 stages for photography.

・Gamers Palace:
　Forget your worries in a top of the line Gaming Bar and VR Arcade.
・UN Hangar:
　Uncover the truth the UN doesn’t want you to know.
・The Depths:
　A tent city where the air is thick with the smell of grease and toxic sludge.

DLC Trailer:
・Selfie Lens
　Swap to the selfie lens and take a photo with you in it.

・Roller Blades
　Move quickly through levels with Roller Blades.

・Spray Can
　Tag anything that is Property of the UN. Create interesting opportunities for new and creative shots.

・Rad Pads
　Get down really low on your belly and take photos.

・Aperture Priority
　Take photos using aperture priority and change the way lenses operate.

・ISO
　Use your ISO slider to increase Grain in exchange for a brighter shot.

We'll let you know when the release window has been set, so we ask for your patience just a little longer!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1223500/

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Visit the Playism Website[playism.com]
Follow us on Steam
Follow us on Twitter

Hello everyone, we have been working hard to bring some more requested features to Umurangi Generation while also working towards new content for players to enjoy. Without any further waffle let's break it down.

Keyboard Remapping
Keys can now be remapped. This will let players who have unconventional keyboards play
Your keybinding is saved to a tiny txt file located next to your save data. This way you can share your binding with other players.

Achievements
We’ve put together a list of achievements. Some are achieved from playing the game and others require some specific circumstances. This should give returning players something to do while soaking in the atmosphere.

Trading Cards
As some of you may have noticed we have added Trading Cards which would have already dropped. These trading cards were something we wanted players to strive to collect, so we worked to make most of the art diverse and eye catching. A big thank you to Alugz_P and RubyFairRow for their guest art.


Improved controller support
For certain lenses looking around while having them zoomed in was a bit too sensitive. We have worked to make looking through the camera less sensitive so that players using a controller can be precise.



Listen to the soundtrack on Spotify
We’ve added the Umurangi Generation Soundtrack to Spotify check it out here
https://open.spotify.com/album/02iIjzyhAlM7b5MlnuUdtb

American Flags on Karangahake
American flags were often only an objective you could get from a very specific angle. We’ve added some small flags in cups and attached them to the train so that players can take this objective in some new and creative ways.

Lower graphics settings optimisations
We are constantly working to make the enjoyment of the game as smooth for everyone. With console releases later this year we’ve been looking at ways of making lower spec machines run the game. One of the biggest changes you will notice with lower spec quality settings is that performance intensive effects will be disabled. This might alter the look of some scenes a little bit but you should still be able to take great photos.

Top: Low Spec
Bottom: High Spec

DLC Preview
We are heads down working on the first Umurangi Generation DLC content pack. Here are some previews of the levels we have been working on. Be aware there are some spoilers in these images for the base game.

For daily updates be sure to follow @UmurangiGame on Twitter.

Kia Ora everyone. As we move into a new week we are delighted to announce some new comfort options for players in the game.


You asked for it! Today we are rolling out controller support for Player Control and Menus. We chose to prioritise this as unlike other keyboards the 3 main controllers are universal in their design. This means that players from different countries can all enjoy the same experience using their respective controllers. The control scheme is as follows

Controllers Supported
Xbox 360, Xbox One and PS4

Read more here:
https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.inputsystem@1.0/manual/SupportedDevices.html

A small amount of players were soft locked from playing after some files containing their settings were corrupted. We implemented a check which looks for any errors in these files. If there are any issues the following will appear as well as a button for players to open the relevant folder and manually delete the file. If you have an issue with either file a small icon will display in the bottom right which will let you know what is wrong.

For Helicopter Brains and players who use the inverted Y axis for looking around we have added this into the menu. Works with both Mouse and Controller.

For motion sick players we have added in the ability to enable and disable motion blur. This may help alleviate some sickness by enabling or disabling. This may also help mask some VSync issues some players were having.

There was an issue where players were able to shoot the 3 targets through the outside barricades of the Kill House area of Otumoetai. This has been patched.

Hovering Effect Persistence outside of levels and some other rogue sound effects have been patched.

On the Subway level Glasses & Trilby and Boombox & Spray Can were triggered regardless of distance (they are close objectives).

3 Ferns and Bench have been changed from Near to Any. This should give players more creativity to take this shot in different ways.

From within 3 units to 3.5 units.
Most players during streams were only a step out of range. So this change should help players feel like they are close enough without having to take a second shot.





We want to implement this right the first time, this is going to require more work to make sure it is polished up to match the standard of other customization options in the game. This will also require the creation of more Graphics of keys to map to the games UI for button prompts such as “E” or “F”.

We have begun looking into making a list of fun achievements for players to get. These achievements will essentially act like a universal list of Photo Bounties (Take a photo of a Pyramid). But instead of earning Bonus Equipment you can earn Wallpapers, Emoticons and Badges for your steam profile.

We have begun working with some guest artists to create some beautiful trading cards for Players to collect during their long photo shoots. We have been given the all clear from Valve to start adding these to the game. This will be in the next patch when they are ready.

We are aware of this bug and are looking into it. As it is something which is outside of the normal bounds of play (players must really try squishing in) it is not a huge priority now. However we will look into a fix.

Hi Everyone. We are super thrilled at the positive reception from players have had this week experiencing Umurangi Generation. The shots taken by players are incredible. We have have received feedback on some small tweaks that players have suggested this week. We want to walk slowly but surely through the implementation of these tweaks as we don’t want to upset the balance of players current experience.

These tweaks are now live. Please view this post for a list of tweaks made.

Photo Bounty Clarity
We’ve reworked 2 later bounties to have an easier understood goal.
Lights and Bricks to Work Lights and Blocks.
Pallette to Pallet.

Stairs
We made it easier for the player to walk up stairs now.

Sarcastic “Property of The UN”
We’ve added a new spot you can shoot Sarcastic Property of the UN from.
On screen camera controls
A small amount of players were unaware of the large amount of control they had over shooting photos. Most eventually figured it out, but this is not intentional. We’ve added some graphics to the camera menu which should clue players in on what they have when taking photos. These queues are for rotating, zooming and focusing.


Performance Boost Walled City
We reworked a couple of things to do with how Walled City handles Lighting. It should look pretty close to the same but should now run much smoother than the chaotic frame rate from before. We have worked on making these changes to every other level so they inherit the same performance boost.

Description Text
The photo bounties are now explained as “Take a photo of:”. This should help with players understanding that each bounty is a single photo not multiple photos of the same subject.

While we don’t want to change stuff too much at this point there are a few tweaks we’ve been working on for ease of access and increasing player enjoyment. These features will not be included in this hotfix but hopefully you can see how far away they are. This is mostly because we want to make sure that these features are included right the first time. Translation and QA testing are required for these features to make sure there are no conflicts with existing code.

Invert Y Axis
Players who are too conditioned to inverted Y axis will find hope that this game will have the Y axis comfort option soon. We are working to make sure that players of all different languages can enjoy this feature when it goes live.

Remap Controls
Re-mapping controls is something we are often against when making games because it means players are not experiencing the intended kinesthetic experience. Using the scroll for example, as a way of making the player feel as if they have a camera in hand is the intended way. However, players from other country keyboard are not the same as QWERTY and therefore we will be offering remapping in the future.

Controller Support
Controller support is on its way being implemented. There was a prototype version of controller detection in the games demo but this was removed as it was unpolished. This feature will be added in future.

Colour Blind Mode
Colour Blind players on the level Contact were experiencing difficulty distinguishing between Green and Red chem lights. While most just shot in the dark about which was which this is something we will be adding in soon.

Motion Blur Toggle for outside camera
We will be looking into motion blur outside the camera.

Steam Trading Cards and Achievements
Noted and will be added in future. Perhaps we could create cards based on community images. Trading cards require a threshold to be passed on steam before you can add them. So we will keep our ears to the ground.